ENSG recovers N21M paid to ghost teachers in three months

www.odogwublog.com reports that the
Enugu state government said it has recovered a total sum of twenty one
million naira from the state public service in the past three months,
being paid to ghost teachers in the Post-Primary School Management Board(PPSMB).

The
state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Ogbuagu Anikwe, made the
disclosure while briefing newsmen on the outcome of the last State
Executive Council Meeting held over the weekend,saying the chairman of
the board ,

Barrister Nestor Ezeme, gave necessary information that lead to the revelation.

Mr. Anikwe said the council regretted the fraud which took place at the

PPSMB just within three months during which the board embarked on a special

check by paying salaries directly to each of its staff who were made to

personally collect cheques in respect of their monthly wages.

According to the commissioner, “the chairman of PPSMB has been pleading

with EXCO to allow him pay staff salaries by hand and the EXCO approved

that he does so, and for the first month after the salary payment, N7

million was left without anybody coming to claim the amount and for three

months, N21 million was recovered in the process which means that ghost

workers exist at PPSMB”.

He said that Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi was not pleased with the

development, regretting that “ while the state government was striving to

fulfil its side of the obligation through regular and prompt payment of

workers’ salaries, some staff are busy siphoning government money through

ghost-workers syndrome.”

The Commissioner stated that the State Government is considering some

severe sanctions against anybody found to been involved in this fraud. In

an earlier exercise, the government had discovered no fewer than 2,000

ghost workers in the local government system, including the primary schools.